Sure lock connectors



United States Patent lce Patented June 12, 1956 SURE LOCK CQNNEQTRSStanley E. Mika, Berwyn, Ill. Application December 8, 1953, Serial No.396,821

1 Claim. (Q1. 339-250) This invention relates to a cable connector.

It is an object of the invention to provide a iiexible sleeve gripadapted to be tight tted upon a wire cable and onto an electric terminalwhereby to hold the wires of the cable in tight conducting relationshipwith the terminal.

It is another object of the invention to provide an electrical cableholder which is flexible and such as to provide a tight friction grip ona terminal post and which is serrated or internally grooved to provideadequate space so that the interior wall can be accommodated todifferent sizes of cable and terminal without being unduly stressed.

Other objects of the invention are to provide a sleeve grip element forelectrical conductors to attach the wires thereof to a terminal whereinthe operation of applying the connector is simple and which is itself ofsimple construction, adapted for mass production, inexpensive formanufacture, durable, formed of a single piece, effective and ecient inuse.

For other objects and a better understanding of the invention, referencemay be had to the following detailed description taken in connectionwith the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure l is a longitudinal sectional view of the connector embodying thefeatures of the present invention and taken along the line 1-1 of Fig.2;

Fig, 2 is an end view of the connector;

Fig. 3 is an elevational view of a spark plug and of a cable and of awire applied to the spark plug;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged vertical sectional view of the connector andlooking upon the engagement of the wires of the cable with a taperedterminal post of the spark plug and with the cable being retained by theinner wall of the connector.

Referring now to the figures, represents the connector formed offlexible and pliable material such as rubber, natural or synthetic, orother pliable material. The connector 10 has an inner gripping wall 11which is grooved or serrated to provide internal projections 12 ofannular shape and recesses 13 into which the projections 12 may befolded.

A spark plug 14 has a terminal 15 upon its upper end with a tapered end16 over which wires or strands 17 of cable 18 can be supported or fixedby the connector 10 formed of rubber. The cable insulation is tightlygripped by the internal annular projections 12 of the connector.

The Same connector is tted down tightly over the terminal 15 and overthe wire strands 17 of the cable. It will be seen that a tight grip iseffected and that the wire will be completely sealed within theconnector 10 and upon the terminal so that the terminal and the wirewill be kept entirely free of dirt or moisture which would tend tocorrode the wire and spoil the connection. The individual annularprojections 12 each form sealing engagement with the surfacesl of thecable and of the terminal.

The connector can be easily slipped on to the cable 18 and will have atight frictional grip with the terminal 15. lt will be seen that thisgrip is sutiicient to seal out moisture, dirt and so forth and at thesame time the strands of the cable will be rigidly held against theterminal 15. It will be seen that a wiping engagement is made of boththe cable 18 and the terminal 15.

While various changes may be made in the detail construction, it shallbe understood that such changes shall be within the spirit and scope ofthe present invention, as defined by the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

A spark plug comprising in combination a top terminal having a taperedend, a cable wire having wire strands tted downwardly over the taperedend and along the side of the terminal, said spark plug adjacent saidterminal having a substantially cylindrical portion of less diameterthan the main body of said spark plug whereby to provide a shoulder, anda retaining connector comprising a substantially cylindrical member ofexible material having a central longitudinal bore therethrough adaptedto be squeezed onto the adjacent ends of said cable wire and said sparkplug cylindrical portion with one end thereof abutting said shoulder,said connector on the interior thereof having a plurality of axiallyspaced annular projections providing recesses therebetween, said annularprojections extending throughout the full length of said bore andadapted to provide sealing engagement with the cable and spark plugwhereby to hold the cable against axial displacement on the terminal.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS833,135 Jacobson Oct. 9, 1906 1,376,844 Weber May 3, 1921 1,926,197 DurrSept. 12, 1933 2,167,865 Beecher Aug. l, 1939 2,550,358 Le Grand Apr.24, 1951

